


coffee with a sprinkle of sugar

by baeconandeggs, darlingjongin



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Baekhyun plays the gayageum, Chanyeol plays the guitar, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Slice of Life, kdrama heartstrings inspired, lots of pining, musicmajors!chanbaek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-07 01:46:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14660763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeconandeggs/pseuds/baeconandeggs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingjongin/pseuds/darlingjongin
Summary: Baekhyun, a freshman in college, always thought himself to be above the whole romance thing. However, he finds himself to be quite the opposite when he meets his sleepy roommate





	coffee with a sprinkle of sugar

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt #: BAE319**
> 
> **Disclaimer: baeconandeggs/the mods is/are not the author/s of this story. Authors will be credited and tagged after reveals.** The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offence is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> **Author's Note:** Firstly, thank you to the mods for letting me join the fest quite last minute. I’m not good at writing summaries, so I ended up just using the prompt since it was simple and straightforward. Also, I should probably stop writing about shit I don’t know since I had to watch endless YouTube videos about how to play a gayageum. So, with that being said, I’m not a musical person whatsoever, so the music theory or anything music related will most likely be wrong; apologies to real musicians out there.

For the most part, everything seemed normal. _For the most part._ Of course, he expected the coffee stains on his shirt when he walked up the stairs and he tripped over his untied shoelace; he knew he was a clumsy motherfucker. He expected the long hour phone call with his mum, asking millions of questions and crying over her little boy going off to college and he even expected his dad shedding a few tears as he hugs him one last time, his car waiting patiently with the engines still on, the hug lasting five minutes too long for normalcy. Everything seems normal.

Except, it wasn’t. Because if it was, then he wouldn’t have to stop mid-step after seeing a lump holding onto his Rilakkuma bear that he purposefully placed on the bed by the window to claim it as his own. As far as he knows, he’s the first to arrive so by laws of college and life in general, he gets first pick of the bed. Which is why he’s confused as to why someone in an oversized black hoodie is hugging his teddy bear and sleeping on his bed.

‘Um… Hello?’, he calls out, walking nearer to the boy, noticing the green suitcase, placed upright and abused with scratches and stickers, ‘Excuse me? Hello, sorry but you’re sleeping in my-’ before Baekhyun can look down and see the boy’s closed eyes and open mouth, he feels himself being dragged down onto the bed, strong arms wrapping tightly around him. He can see his Rilakkuma falling onto the carpet floors, his mind too confused at the situation to realise his basic instinct has forced him to wrap his arms around the nearest solid thing he can hold onto, which was the perpetrator, his arms hugging back.

‘Oompfh’, he hears a deep groan and arms which loosened around him, ‘Oh…’, Baekhyun strays his eyes down to find that the sleeping boy’s eyes have finally open, both their faces being closer than socially accepted, ‘Did the Rilakkuma come to life?’, the stranger’s voice was low and groggy, but there was a playful smile on his face, one which may look cute in other circumstances, but in this case, Baekhyun was not having it.

‘Do you mind?’, Baekhyun stirs off the bed, trying to regain some kind of stature in which his body was not pressed and wrapped around a random stranger’s arms, ‘Who are you and what are you doing on my bed?’, he asks, a hint of frustration tainted in his tone, his arms crossed and brows lowered in judgement. The boy in front of him showed no front in even apologising. He just sits up on the bed, his hair messy and slightly curled, looking around with sleepy eyes.

‘Oh, this is your bed?’

‘Yes, didn’t you see the bear on it? I’ve claimed this bed already’

‘Can I have it instead?’

‘What? No!’, Baekhyun argues, his voice slightly raising from the audacity, ‘I came here first, so I get first pick!’

‘But it’s right next to the window. I want to sleep by the sunlight’

‘What are you? A cat?’, Baekhyun huffs out, fully aware that he is being a little bit dramatic, but the curly haired boy was still sitting on his bed, cross-legged and no signs that he was going to move, ‘No, you’re not having it. Now can you please move over to the other bed’

‘I’m Chanyeol by the way’, the stranger ignores Baekhyun’s orders, reaching his hand out instead, flustering Baekhyun into looking down, almost forgetting that he was telling this boy off. Without much choice, he sighs, reciprocating the introduction and reaching out for the hand.

‘Baekhyun’

‘Well Baekhyun, since you’re still shaking my hand, I’ll take it that you’ve agreed to swap with me for the bed’, Chanyeol smiles, continuing to shake his hand before tearing away and falling face first onto the duvet covers.

‘Wait, what? That’s not how this works!’, Baekhyun shouts out, but it was too late, he can already hear the soft snores coming from the boy, ‘What kind of democracy is this?’ 

♥ ♥

‘I’m telling you. He’s a total weirdo’, Baekhyun complains, biting into his Big Mac, Kyungsoo judging him as he sees some lettuce fall from his mouth, sauce covering his lips.

‘Yeah. Sure’, Kyungsoo mumbles a response, looking at the way Baekhyun ate like a homeless man, staring down at his fries and losing his appetite. Kyungsoo shifts his gaze down on his phone, checking the time to see if he can get out of this meetup, but since Baekhyun is persistent and he is not, here the both of them are, one stuffing their face whilst the other prays for this to end, ‘Are you done now? I kind of wanna check out some clubs around the campus’

‘Hold on a minute. We still need to talk about when he stole my keychain’

‘You’re what?’

‘My cute bear keychain I won at a fair last summer’, Baekhyun explains, his mouth still full, small chewed pieces of food flying out of his mouth and towards Kyungsoo’s direction, which didn’t help suppress his utter annoyance at his best friend right now. Why did Kyungsoo agree to apply to the same Universities as Baekhyun? Why did he think it’ll be fun to take care of his ass for another three years?

‘Look, just deal with it. I’m literally a floor above so if he does anything weirder, just crash in my place’

‘Really?’

’That sparkle in your eyes is making me regret that offer already’, Kyungsoo points his finger at Baekhyun, ‘You have a total of three stays in my room. Three nights to crash. I won’t be answering the door once you used up all three of them, got it?’, Kyungsoo gives Baekhyun the usual look he gives, a warning for his best friend to keep himself together.

‘You’re giving your best friend a tally limit on when he can visit you?’, Baekhyun snorts, ‘What kind of friend are you?’, Kyungsoo didn’t bother to answer, sipping his coffee as he looks over at Baekhyun, the both of them relishing in the quiet moment before they head back to their campus.

♥ ♥

‘I think he’s cute’, Minseok ignores Chanyeol, folding his clothes and placing it in the wardrobe of his dorm, ‘Look, isn’t he cute?’, Chanyeol shoves his phone towards Minseok’s face, forcing him to look at the screen, presenting him a boy in a grey sweatshirt holding onto a Rilakkuma bear

‘Taking a picture of him without his consent is creepy’, Minseok tells him first, swatting the phone away as he busies himself in trying to finish all his unpacking, ‘And, didn’t you say he shouted at you?’

‘That was because I was sleeping on his bed’

‘What the hell were you doing sleeping on his bed?’, Minseok turns around, frowning at his friend who stood behind him, in his own world as he continues to focus his gaze on the boy inside his phone rather than his friend judging him.

‘I was sleepy’

Minseok rolls his eyes. 

‘Of course, you were’, but that didn’t stop Chanyeol from realising that his new roommate was cute, somewhat almost puppy-like as he remembers how his brown locks bounced when Baekhyun landed on him. Chanyeol continued to stare at the picture, getting elated as he noticed the little things, like the faded but still evident mole which was pursed right above the boy’s lips.

‘How cute do you think he’ll look wearing my hoodie?’, Chanyeol thought aloud, which did not go unnoticed since Minseok stops himself from clearing his luggage, his eyes just staring at his friend, brows raised and head shaking, ‘He might drown if he wears my clothes, look how tiny he is’, Chanyeol pinches the screen to take a closer look at the sly photo he took of Baekhyun as he busies himself trying to unpack, Chanyeol pretending to sleep when he watches Baekhyun complain to himself whilst changing the bed sheet of the bed placed right next to the door, giving in and taking the other bed since Chanyeol showed no signs of moving.

‘Chanyeol, have you got any life?’, Minseok finally asks, taking away Chanyeol’s phone from him before he does anything stupid like send the picture to the group chat.

‘I’ll get a life after I finish looking at the photo’, Chanyeol whines, trying to reach for his phone, but Minseok steps back and pushes him away.

‘What is so interesting about this goddamn photo? It’s just of your roommate’, Minseok voices out, looking down to spot if Chanyeol is looking at something he hadn’t noticed, but the photo seemed normal and nothing special seems to be popping up, ‘Can you try and act like a college student and at least unpack or check your class timetable before the semester starts? Do something productive’

‘Unlike you, Mr Engineer major, I don’t need to recheck anything’, Chanyeol pouts, sitting down on Minseok’s bed, whining that his best friend still hasn’t given his phone back.

‘Don't you need to… I don’t fucking know, tune your guitar? Something Chanyeol, do fucking something’, Minseok whines, this time being the one pouting as he watches Chanyeol ignore him, falling back onto his bed and hugging his pillow.

‘In a minute’, Chanyeol whispers and Minseok can already tell that he’s sleeping.

_How does he do it? I can dump him in a ditch and he’ll still be sleeping._

♥ ♥

‘Hello’, Baekhyun flinches the moment he hears a loud voice shouting at him the moment he opens the door. His roommate, sitting on what’s supposed to be his bed, smiles at him, his legs crossed on the bed, his hands strumming the strings of his guitar.

‘Uh…’, Baekhyun didn’t know what to do. He knew that he should probably greet him back, but he was too taken aback to say anything, so he just smiles, nodding his head in acknowledgement of Chanyeol’s existence before moving over to his bed, throwing his jacket on the floor.

It was silent between them, the soft strumming of Chanyeol’s guitar is the only thing which made a noise.

‘So… What are you majoring in?’, Chanyeol points out, oddly confused as to why his bedside hadn’t been decorated in textbooks like Minseok.

‘Huh? Oh… Traditional Music’, Baekhyun replies, awkwardly looking around at Chanyeol’s side of the room, which he shouldn’t have since he saw the way the boy’s eyes lit up at the word music.

‘You’re a music major too?’

‘Yeah, but like I said… I focus on traditional Korean music’, Baekhyun points at the case which was placed right under his bed, ‘Gayageum is my speciality’, unbeknownst to him, he bends down straight away, sliding the case over to where he is, excitedly opening it to show his roommate his polished instrument, he’d owned it for a few years now but he’d made sure to take care of it since he received it for his sixteenth birthday, ‘I bet you’re just doing Music’, Baekhyun looks back up to where Chanyeol was sitting, his guitar still resting on his crossed legs.

‘Contemporary’, Chanyeol chuckles, strumming his guitar once more and showing Baekhyun the sweet sound of an E major chord. Baekhyun didn’t hate Chanyeol all too much now, not when his fingers danced along the strings, it automatically made him want to join him, his fingers itching to add a few more colours on the simple tune, but he stops himself, just simply smiling at Chanyeol instead.

‘You play really good’, he comments, yet Chanyeol stops the moment he says it.

‘How you? How great are you at playing a gayageum?’, Baekhyun knew he was challenging him, he knew well that all Chanyeol wanted to do was see someone playing the classical instrument, but he smiled anyway, too eager to take the instrument fully out of its case. It was heavy, and Baekhyun takes it out as carefully as possible, the strings already tuned and ready to be played. 

'Prepare to be amazed’, Baekhyun whispers, looking down at the strings, his face serious, smile was gone and an expression of sincerity hinted on the way his gaze across the strings, his fingers delicate on each string, treating it as if he’s about to pluck a petal from a summer flower. He starts slow, each string vibrating in different colours, allowing the melody to sway into the air, his heart pulsating as he continuous to play, closing his eyes in moments in which he pretends to be on his own, just him and the music playing around him.

_Spring Snow_

He was playing Spring Snow by Hwang Byungki. Chanyeol recognised it, the soft melody, in the beginning, picking up in midtempo by the middle of the piece. He’d heard someone play it at his school summer festival a few years back, just before his band’s turn. He never thought to hear it again but with much more soul.

And with the sound of Baekhyun’s light humming, he joins him, drumming onto his guitar a simple beat, adding his own flare into it which shocked the latter, Baekhyun’s eyes opening as he watches Chanyeol’s knuckles softly hitting the body of his guitar. It felt odd for a moment, for him to be hearing something overwhelming added to a soft piece, but he let it be.

♥ ♥

‘So, what other instruments do you play?’, Baekhyun whispers in the middle of the night, the both of them laid on their own beds, the moonlight being the only source of light which shun in their room, the window curtains tied open due to Chanyeol’s preference.

‘Piano, drums, bass, electric guitar and a few other percussions’, Chanyeol comments, impressing Baekhyun with his repertoire, his head slightly turning to gaze down on the bed further from him.

‘And you? Any other traditional instruments you play?’

‘I can play the Hageum, but not very well since I spent most my years learning gayageum…’, Baekhyun explains, ‘I also play other instruments, but like I said… Not very well…’

‘What other instruments?’, Chanyeol turns his body around, the rustle of the sheets being heard from across the room.

‘Well, the violin and a tiny, _tiny_ bit of piano’, Baekhyun also turns his body, leaning his cheeks on his arms as he stares ahead of him, looking at the boy who looks back at him.

‘Ah… You’re more of a strings guy’, Chanyeol chuckles, the moonlight shifting so he can see the way Baekhyun’s eyes turn into a crescent shape when he smiled.

‘And you’re more of an everything guy?’, they both laugh, not too loud since sleep had started to take them away from reality, Chanyeol’s eyes closing first, his breathing rhythmic and slow. Baekhyun however, stayed awake for a couple more minutes, just looking around his new room, not feeling quite at home yet, just staring ahead of him to where Chanyeol was.

♥ ♥

‘You are going to be late’, Kyungsoo laughs as the pair of them speed walk to their first lessons of the semester, Baekhyun carrying a cup of coffee with his bag hanging open since he didn’t have the time to organise his books properly, the ends of his textbooks peeking out of the bag.

‘So are you’, he groans back at Kyungsoo who continues to laugh since the Humanities building was just opposite their dorm building, which means Kyungsoo just had to turn a corner till he’s inside his lecture hall learning about the Oedipus complex.

‘Have fun running to your lecture’, Kyungsoo laughs, tearing away from Baekhyun as he quickly jogs towards the Humanities building, his bag by his side when Baekhyun makes a run for it, not caring if his coffee spills or not.

‘Why did I have to sleep so goddamn late’, he tells himself off the moment he feels his breathing turn heavy, his hair bouncing off as he turns another corner, the Music and Performing Arts building placed right at the end of campus. It didn’t phase Baekhyun the moment he ran into the lecture hall whilst the lecturer was still talking that someone was behind him this whole time. It was only when he felt something push him, making him trip over and embarrass himself in front of a hundred or so students who stifle a laugh the moment they look down to see Baekhyun baby blue polo shirt spilt in hot coffee that he never got to drink.

‘I suggest the both of you sit down before I end my introductory speech’, the lecturer, with a sigh, speaks to the both of them. There was a hint of familiarity in his voice which shows that this wasn’t the first time something like this happened, but that didn’t stop Baekhyun from being beat red embarrassed, his head hung low as he bows to the teacher apologetically. He turns behind him to see who the dickhead who made his first day like this and lord behold, Chanyeol, all 185cm of him, stood in front of him, a beanie to cover his mess of a hair and a goofy smile which was plastered on his face.

‘Sorry’, he whispers to Baekhyun, biting his lower lip to stop him from laughing from Baekhyun’s shocked expression, his shirt now a brown instead of the blue which he had originally bought it in. It was going to be a bitch trying to get the stains out.

‘Are you two going to sit down or not?’, the lecturer calls to them again after seeing that the pair had not move, his stern voice bringing Baekhyun back to reality, shrugging his head and quickly trying to sit on the spare seat right at the front, his shirt still damp and his hand still holding the empty cup of coffee.

‘Anyway’, the lecturer went on, turning back to where his computer is, going onto the next slide, ‘Since this module focuses on the influential impact of classical and traditional music in contemporary forms of composition, I expect there’s a mixture of majors in this course. Hands up if you’re doing traditional Korean music?’, the lecturer asks, a few hands going up, including Baekhyun, ‘Any contemporaries?’, the lecturer asks next, nodding expectedly as the majority of hands raises, leaving Baekhyun and a few of the odd ones out.

Baekhyun didn’t mind being the only few to be taking his major, his eyes gliding across the slides as he makes a note of extra books he needed to get a hold of, dates of exams, assignment deadlines and even performance date since every year they are acquired to perform at the end of the year festival. Just as he was about to turn a page in his notebook, he feels another pressure on him. He turns his head to see Chanyeol leaning on his shoulder, snuggling his head, his hair tickling Baekhyun’s noise as he looks down.

‘What are you doing?’, he whispers, trying not to gain any more attention from the lecturer who was too busy reading off the board to see that someone had already started sleeping in his lecture.

‘I’m tired’, Chanyeol whispers back, his eyes closed, ‘I wanna sleep’

‘Sleep when the day is over’, Baekhyun tilts his shoulder, trying to get Chanyeol off him, but the boy was adamant in staying on Baekhyun, moving forward until his head was resting between Baekhyun’s shoulder and neck, ‘Chanyeol, get off me’

Chanyeol doesn’t move. He’s asleep already.

 _‘How does this bitch fall asleep so fast?’_ , Baekhyun thought, not knowing if he should just push Chanyeol off him and make another scene or allow this to happen. He sighs, slowly lifting his arm up and trying not to stir him awake as he tries to write down the first assignment deadline due in a fortnight’s time.

♥ ♥

‘Hey, can you make me coffee too?’

‘No’, Baekhyun looks back, seeing Chanyeol, cross-legged again, his guitar resting on his lap as he looks over to where Baekhyun was, who was by his bedside table, making his own coffee with the coffee machine his mum gave to him before college started.

‘But there’s enough for me too’, Chanyeol whines, pointing to the coffee machine which is still boiling. Baekhyun didn’t want to say anything like ‘buy your own goddamn coffee’, because that was rude and Baekhyun didn’t want to sound rude, but my god did he want to throw the boiling hot jug at him instead. Coffee was already a sensitive subject to him since he had to introduce himself to all of his classes with a brown stained shirt.

Baekhyun decided to just ignore him, whipping out his spare mug which was stashed away in one of the drawers because he did not trust anyone in the communal kitchen, which is also why his coffee machine was hidden inside his room instead. 

Turning back was the mistake. Baekhyun looking back to see Chanyeol soft eyes pleading with him, his lower lip pouting and his pointy ears prominent due to the cap he was wearing.

_Goddamn it, Park Chanyeol._

‘Fine’, Baekhyun sighs, ‘Where’s your mug?’, he gives in, walking to the other end where a small travel mug rested. Baekhyun ignores the goofy grin which played on the giant, getting on with it and making an extra cup of coffee.

‘With a sprinkle of sugar please’

‘I beg your pardon?’, Baekhyun calls out, ‘That’s not a proper way to measure things. One teaspoon or two?’, Baekhyun corrects the giant, waiting for his reply but unfortunately getting none, ‘Hello? Preferences?’, he turns back and reasserts his question, only being responded with the soft strum of Chanyeol’s guitar.

‘Like I said. Just a sprinkle’, Chanyeol replies, humming a song which Baekhyun had not heard before, but like he cared. Right now, all he wants to do is rip that guitar off him and force him to answer his question properly.

‘Sprinkle?’, Baekhyun once again sighs, breathing in rhythmic threes, ‘If you want to sprinkle, then that’s what you’re going to get’, Baekhyun mutters to himself, pouring the black coffee into Chanyeol’s mug before adding the milk. He opens the jar of sugar he kept in stash, not even bothering to use a spoon but instead held a pinch of sugar between his thumb and finger before flicking it into the cup with barely any sugar grains falling inside, but if that’s what Chanyeol wanted, that’s what he’s going to get.

‘Every time you do that, the sound of my heart beats out loud’, Chanyeol sings, his voice low and barely above a whisper, muttering simple lyrics which seems to past over the both of them.

‘Here you go, coffee with a sprinkle of sugar’, Baekhyun fakes a smile, reaching his hand out to pass Chanyeol his travel mug, one which the giant seems to take advantage as he holds onto the cup, his fingers touching Baekhyun’s, keeping it still for a few seconds, the both of them looking at their woven fingers then up at each other.

‘You have soft hands’

‘Get off me, you freak’, Baekhyun quickly detracts his hands as if it was on fire, pulling away and taking a step back. Chanyeol can only chuckle at the cute notion, like a puppy in shock, Baekhyun jumps into his bed, hands reaching out for his duvet to cover him up on this cold day.

♥ ♥

‘You really don’t like him, do you?’, Kyungsoo giggles, watching Baekhyun’s stress increase from 0 to 100 and it’s barely been a week into college. They’ve been through their fair shares of freshman parties yet every night, Kyungsoo always remembers Baekhyun yelling at his new roommate through the phone, whether it was about coffee or tripping over his gayageum, Baekhyun is screaming the same name.

‘Park Chanyeol!’

Kyungsoo waits for Baekhyun to finish his conversation with the tall roommate, eating his carrot cake as they sit inside the warm confines of the student café, a seat on the second floor overlooking the street ahead from the window.

‘I told you, don’t go over to my side of the room! How would you like it if I kick over your guitar?’

Kyungsoo sips his tea, looking down at his phone and staring at his lock screen, a graduation photo taken during the beginning shades of summer, where his hair was shorter and Baekhyun’s hair was still black. It hadn’t occurred to him that his best friend had never really sought to widen his social group since freshman, usually sticking with just him and maybe a few classmates from the Choir club. Which is why Kyungsoo is surprised that Chanyeol’s name is uttered more than once and in such comfortable tone. He didn’t even notice the moment Baekhyun dropped formalities with Chanyeol.

’Gayageums costs more than three of your guitar so if I even find one scratch on it, I swear to god, Park Chanyeol…’, Baekhyun heaves another sigh, he lost count on how many he’d done, hanging up on the phone after trying to drill it in Chanyeol’s head that he cannot touch his gayageum.

‘Love at first sight, huh?’, Kyungsoo raises his brows playfully, which was then responded with a hit from Baekhyun.

‘Please don’t get me started…’, Baekhyun rests his head on his hands, his fingers massaging his forehead, ‘I don’t need to stress about you too’

‘I’m just saying…’, Kyungsoo chuckles, ‘Your new roommate is cute and he’s always dying for your attention’, this seemed to have caught Baekhyun’s attention, his gaze perched back up, lips raised in a disgusted snicker.

‘First of all, he’s not that cute. And second of all, he doesn’t die for my attention. He just relishes in my pain’

‘He’s not that cute, but you still think he’s cute?’

‘Really? That’s what you got out of my statement?’

♥ ♥

The day breaks, the sun setting and leaving behind an orange hue which builds across the grey skies, Baekhyun dragging his feet, his gayageum stuffed inside his case, the weight of it all, including his books in general, weighing him down and making his arms ache, each finger badly bandaged after learning yet another variation which took him days to master, his skin tugging on the strings of his gayageum in frustration, ripping a few out which made him bleed.

Chanyeol sits on the floor this time, scribbling down a few more lyrics as he strums on his guitar, getting frustrated over the same generic lines he would come up with. It’s been three weeks into college and his first assignment was already doing his head in. This wasn’t a Literature module, so why did his professor ask them to write a love song by the end of the month? He signed up for Techniques of Compositions and Music Analysis, not poetry classes. He didn’t know why he was complaining though since songwriting was a past time he’d fallen in love with since he was a child, which makes his situation even more ridiculous now.

’Park Chanyeol is actually going through a slump…’, he whispers to himself, laughing as he hits on his guitar in frustration, ripping out the page of lyrics he found too corny to submit to his professor. ‘Ergh, Park Chanyeol, think. _think._ Just…’, before he can continue with his self-motivation, the door swings open, Baekhyun walking in, his eyes too busy gazing down, trying to rebandage his index finger since the plaster came off, hissing every time he took it off.

’Do you have any spare bandages? This son of a bitch won’t stick and it’s really pissing me off’, Baekhyun asks Chanyeol, not bothering to look up as he throws his bag onto the floor by the end of his bed, sitting down on the mattress, his eyes glaring at his scarred fingers. Chanyeol stops what he’s doing, placing his guitar down, standing up after hours of sitting, pins and needles all over his leg, but he pays no mind to them.

’Yeah. I think I have a few spares’, Chanyeol speaks out, although it didn’t faze Baekhyun that Chanyeol was nearing him, kneeling right in front as he takes his hand.

’What are you doing?’, he asks, trying to pull away, but Chanyeol’s hold was stronger. He watches the taller boy stare at his fingers, tutting as he undoes all of his bandage.

’I mean, come on Baekhyun. You need to bandage it properly, otherwise, it’s going to get infected’, Chanyeol points out, carefully applying a bandage on his index finger before going over to his thumb.

<’And you’re a bandage expert, are you?

’Better than you’, he smiles, the pair drawing into a silence whilst Chanyeol focuses on the task, ‘Must be hard playing the gayageum’, he points out, blowing on Baekhyun’s fingers, patting it softly once he’s finished. Baekhyun keeps a straight face, his upper lips twitching once he looks down as sees that Chanyeol had not stood up, but instead his chin leans on his knees

’Uh… Yeah… It is hard…’, Baekhyun replies, ‘Are you going to stand up or not?’, Baekhyun finally confronts Chanyeol, but not moving. Chanyeol only laughs at him as he stood up, stretching his hands and yawning whilst he turns back to where his guitar is. Baekhyun finally noticed the amount of scrap paper decorating their floor, all filled with scribbles, messy handwriting splurged in black ink. Chanyeol must be having a hard time too.

’Hey, Chanyeol’, Baekhyun calls out, smiling once he sees Chanyeol turn around immediately

’Yeah?’

’Do you want some coffee?’, upon hearing his offer, Chanyeol makes his usual goofy grin, teeth showing and eyes turning into the shape of crescent moons

’Sure. I would love that’

<’With a sprinkle of sugar?’

<’With a sprinkle of sugar’

♥ ♥

Baekhyun kind of saw it coming. He did. But he never knew he would hate it the moment his professor announced their next assignment; a teamwork project to compose a song with the theme of Spring – which in hindsight, Baekhyun thought was not a very good theme, since it felt so generic and cliché for a college assignment – but he’s not judging. Not too much anyway.

’This project will last for two months and I expect you _all_ to work as a pair or group of three, no more. Got that?’, the professor announces, changing the slides which showed information of the grades, which agitated Baekhyun even more since this project is worth 30%, whereas their final exam was only worth 15%, which means if he fails this, he can’t even use his exam to fall back on.

The group of students were already looking around, trying to find a better partner to do all the work, most traditional music majors falling their gaze to the boy at the front, the one with various bandaged on his fingers, looking intently at the board, not knowing that nearly half the class was eyeing him. Byun Baekhyun, the gayageum prodigy, he’ll do most of the work so they can pass a good grade.

’Now, do you have any questions before we move?’, the professor asks, waiting for a few seconds and allowing Baekhyun to raise his hands, ‘Yes, Mr Byun. What is it?’

’Does it has to be about Spring?’

’Yes. That is what is written on the syllabus’, the professor comments, but Baekhyun was serious in his question.

’But, isn’t that theme too broad and used too often?’

’That’s exactly the point, Mr Byun’, the professor smiles, lifting his finger as if he was about to explain quantum physics, ‘I want to see what you can do given the most cliché and obvious theme. Are you going to play safe and follow the trending rules or are you going to add your own colour? Add your own style into the mix’, the professor explains, going back to the slide title ‘Spring’ with a Getty image of a cherry blossom, ‘You think college is about trying new things in new perspective? Which is a part of the experience, don’t get me wrong. But it is also trying to make something new in the old. Going back to our roots but not just acknowledging but implying it to our present. Why do you think films would so often adapt classic literature in modern storytelling?’, the professor went on, the group of students paying attention to his words, nodding their head in agreement, but it seems like Baekhyun was the only student not on board with it.

♥ ♥

’I don’t see anything wrong with it’, Kyungsoo comments, looking down at the sheet of paper with the assignment requirements, ‘I think it’s a good theme’, Kyungsoo reads the small booklet which Baekhyun had in his back pack, the two of them walking inside the mall, ‘It’s better than last year’s theme’, he squints his eyes, looking at the previous year’s theme which was written at the back, along with the links to the videos of last year first students’ works, ‘Commercial Paradise… That seems like a drag’, he points out, but Baekhyun continues to sip his milkshake without much concentration.

’It’s just so boring, Kyungsoo. Nothing that I would normally do’

’What the fuck are you talking about? You play the gayageum, an instrument made during the time this country was obsessed with nature and love. Isn’t that what spring symbolises?’, Kyungsoo points out, laughing when Baekhyun looks at him, nodding in a somewhat agreement.

’I’m not saying that classical music isn’t focused on love. I just focus on the aftermath’

’Oh… You mean the painful misery of a breakup?’, Kyungsoo looks at him, staring at his best friend up and down, ‘Yeah… You do tend to focus on the shit end of the stick’, he agrees, sipping his cookie dough milkshake and getting slapped on the back by Baekhyun, ‘I always wonder why you do that. It’s not like you’ve ever been in a serious relationship anyway…’

’Relationship is a concept which I can live without’, Baekhyun points out, the pair of them sitting down at one of the tables at the centre of the mall, little kids running around them as their mothers take a break, conversing with each other, strollers by their side and a cup of coffee in their hand.

’We’re not movies, Baekhyun. We are social species who needs to be with-’

’Please don’t bring your complicated psychology into this conversation. I already have a headache with my own module’, Baekhyun stops Kyungsoo right there, closing his eyes and ruffling his hair whilst Kyungsoo watches him calmly, ‘I don’t understand why you’re relaxed. Don’t you have a three thousand essay to be doing?’, Baekhyun, upon all things, knew that college was going to be hard, but he revels in the fact that his best friend was doing a course much harder than his, so for a brief moment, he thought he won’t be the only one dying. He almost forgot that his best friend was Kyungsoo.

’It’s due in two months and I’ve already done half of it’, Kyungsoo points out, raising his milkshake as if to cheer for himself, ‘I can take my sweet time’

’Lucky you’, Baekhyun groans, jealous of his best friend’s work ethics and the ability to not let procrastination get to him, ‘Now, come on and help me send my resume to all the shops here. I need to get a job or you’ll have to end up feeding me every night’, he finally stands, their break over as he prepares copies of his resume which was safely placed inside a clear plastic wallet, pulling them out of his backpack with Kyungsoo by his side for moral support.

’You know, my parents do send me spare money just so I can make food big enough for two’, Kyungsoo points out, not really minding if Baekhyun crashed to his place for dinner since he’s been doing that for most of their friendship anyway.

’No, no. I need a job. I can’t keep lazing around and you’re not supposed to make me laze around’, Baekhyun, motivated as ever, drags Kyungsoo with him, walking towards the escalators and to the first shop with the sign ‘help needed’.

’Whatever you say boss’

♥ ♥

Feeling a bit dejected, Baekhyun walks out of the mall, the dark skies welcoming him into the night, crowds of people dispersing home as the day draws to a close, cars passing by, city lights blaring around him. Kyungsoo had to leave early to finish his assignment, which left Baekhyun walking around a three-story mall, looking at every window and checking his phone to see if any other place is hiring. Much to his dismay, despite spending half the day walking around, he only managed to give a total of five resumes. Tired and hungry, he is left with no choice but to bail, buying a quick snack from one of the stalls before heading over to the bus stop, looking down at his watch, checking if he had any time to start planning his assignment when he gets home.

He breathes a sigh of relief the moment his bus pulls over by the bus stop, only making him wait for five minutes before he can get inside the warm, vehicle, sitting down at the back. He was glad the roads around Seoul had recently been fixed, allowing him to lean his forehead on the cool glass without his head being banged against the window, looking out and observing how people moved, students staying up late and walking as a group, businessmen inside their cars tapping on the steering wheel as they mime the song playing in the radio. He felt a swift of peace which makes him close his eyes. He felt sleepy, giving himself the rest, he’d been wanting to have the moment he woke up at eight to prepare for his 9 am lecture. But that peace is interrupted when he felt pressure on his shoulder.

Baekhyun looks up, staring down at the ball of hair which his eyes landed on, black and curly, the familiar closed eyes of Park Chanyeol, his tall roommate using him as his own personal pillow.

’Chanyeol?’, Baekhyun stirs, forcing Chanyeol to lift his head up, smiling at him with a sleepy expression, eyes half closed, ‘What are you doing?’

’I’m beat’, Chanyeol mentions, leaning on Baekhyun’s shoulder without a warning, Baekhyun feeling slightly ticklish since Chanyeol was moving about, nuzzling his face between his neck and shoulder, ‘The bar was super busy and I had to work overtime’

’Work?! You have a job?’, Baekhyun asks, his voice louder than he had expected due to the initial shock that Park Chanyeol had an actual job. Coughing up his initial surprise, he asks again, this time with a little bit more stature, ‘Since when did you get a job?’

’My friend’s Uncle owns this bar and they were looking for a performer’, Chanyeol replies, although that’s what Baekhyun thinks since his sleepy roommate was mumbling the sentence, ‘I offered to help out during the weekend… Mmpfhtsj’, now the last sentence Baekhyun couldn’t make out since all Chanyeol was doing was making a noise and hoping that it formed somewhat of a human sentence. Instead of forcing Chanyeol to repeat himself, he allows him to sleep in his shoulder, slowly adjusting his head so that the tall giant can have more space, his forehead leaning back to the cold glass.

♥ ♥

‘Chanyeol, something came in the mail for you’, Baekhyun calls out, looking down at the small package with his roommate’s name on it, mixed with his mail. He watches the giant practically run to him, grabbing the package, a big toothy grin plastered on his face.

‘Yes! I’ve been waiting for these’, Chanyeol gleams, grabbing the scissors by Baekhyun’s bedside since he didn’t have one and Baekhyun was past the point of telling Chanyeol off for using his stuff.

‘What is it?’

‘A set of new guitar plucks’, Chanyeol explains, opening it up to find a set of five wrapped in bubble wrap, all in different colour, one in metal, iridescent and cool looking, ‘I keep losing my other ones’, Chanyeol points out, looking at the different designs he’d picked out, ‘Ooh, and it even came with free stickers!’, he shouts like a child, excitedly looking at the different designs of stickers, the usual weed and skater boy type designs since Chanyeol bought from a street style online shop he found whilst scrolling through his phone during lectures.

Baekhyun notice Chanyeol bringing his guitar closely, his eyes focused on sticking his new stickers to an already tattooed guitar. He can barely see the wood of the guitar since everything is covered in stickers.

‘Why do you do that?’, he asks aloud, sitting by his desk, observing the way his roommate busies himself.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Why do put stickers on your guitar. It looks tacky now’

‘What are you talking about? It looks cool!’, Chanyeol points out, slightly offended at what Baekhyun had said, ‘Why don’t you try it?’, Chanyeol responds, pointing at his gayageum which was out in the open since he was practising in the morning.

‘Oh, hell no’, Baekhyun points a warning sign to Chanyeol as he noticed the giant standing up, the weed sticker in his hands, ‘Don’t you dare touch it. That cost almost $800!’, Baekhyun raises his voice at the end, standing up and racing his way to where Chanyeol bent down, placing the sticker on the side of the instrument.

‘See! It looks cool’

‘Chanyeol! You idiot! Why did you just put a weed sticker on my gayageum?!’, Baekhyun yells in frustration, probably being heard by their neighbours next door.

‘Come on, you have to admit. It does look cool’, Chanyeol points out, but he was ignored whilst Baekhyun bent down beside him, trying to scrape the sticker off his gayageum, but he had blunt nails and it seems like these are very good fucking stickers.

‘Park Chanyeol!’, Baekhyun whines after feigning defeat, turning back and crossing his brows, lower lips pouting in frustration.

‘Aww, you look cute when you’re angry’, Chanyeol giggles, patting his hair but being hit by Baekhyun in the process, ‘Ow! Okay! Okay, I’m sorry!’, Chanyeol screeches since Baekhyun continues to hit him, slapping his back, ‘Ow!’

‘You are just…’, Baekhyun didn’t finish his sentence, just looking down at his polished $800 instrument which had been tainted by none other than Park Chanyeol.

‘Why don’t I make you some coffee? It seems like you’ve been getting stressed lately and you’re using me as a punching bag’, Chanyeol playfully jokes, chuckling when Baekhyun tries to kick him, standing up and walking towards Baekhyun’s coffee machine which has ended up becoming his since he found that Baekhyun had moved it from his side to the middle bedside table they shared.

‘Milk with two sugars please’, Baekhyun gives in, voicing out his preference as if Chanyeol doesn’t already know it, the giant already preparing the milk which they kept hidden in the small mini fridge Chanyeol bought with his first paycheck at the bar.

♥ ♥

Minseok looks at Chanyeol’s hair. He stares at the atrocity which had taken place on top of his best friend’s head, looking at the curly hair turning into a life of its own.

’Don’t you usually straighten your hair?’, Minseok points out, wiping the counter of the bar as the evening begins to draw to a close, which means their shift was almost over.

’I’m supposed to, but that means I have to waste thirty minutes in the morning trying to tame _this_ ’, Chanyeol points at his hair – if you can even call it that – sipping on his Ribena, sitting in front of Minseok, his guitar still laid on the front stage, leaning on the empty chair after he finished singing his last song for the evening, ‘But that means I don’t get to walk with Baekhyun for our morning lecture’, Chanyeol explains, which makes Minseok roll his eyes far back that he might lose his sight.

’Of course’, Minseok nods in disbelief, tightening his lips together as he watches his best friend drink the rest of his Ribena in a whisky glass, ‘Why don’t you get it treated? You look like a homeless lion’

’How can lions be homeless? They live in the wild’

’You know what I fucking mean. You look disgusting’, Minseok, rather bluntly, points out to Chanyeol, reaching his hand out to touch his hair, feeling the stiff ends, ‘God, what has Baekhyun done to my best friend. Do you need me to call him? Or ask him out for you?’

’Don’t you fucking dare’, Chanyeol glares at Minseok, his eyes slit.

’I don’t understand you. You’re so into Baekhyun, yet you’re not chasing him around? Isn’t that what you normally do?’, Minseok comments, wiping the counter which stands between them, his eyes heavily focused on the way Chanyeol pouted his lower lips, nose scrunching.

’I know…’, Chanyeol sighs, ruffling his curly hair in frustration, ‘But I don’t want him to think that I’m desperate’

’But you are desperate…’, this earned a well-deserved hit from Chanyeol.

‘I will hit you in the face’, Chanyeol threatens, but his words are voided, Minseok just chuckling to himself as he goes over to the other side of the counter, leaving Chanyeol with his Ribena, catering to the new wave of customers which had just come in.

♥ ♥

Baekhyun looks across the blank music sheet which rested on the floor, his pencil resting between his thumb and index, twirling it around, waiting for the seconds to end, the windows in his dorm room wide open, the wind from the evening skies infiltrating in, his brunette hair swaying. He still didn’t have a partner for his assignment due to turning down over five people’s offer since he had a feeling they only wanted him so they can dump all the work on them. Baekhyun wasn’t stupid to believe that college students were no different to high school.

But this meant that for Baekhyun, he was one of the only few without a partner and it’s been two weeks, which meant the deadline is drawing closer and he had not moved from his initial starting line. He had watched all the romantic movies he can muster, read various literature which focuses on the value and symbolism of spring, yet he still cannot find the perfect note which embodied what he had studied. It was starting to drive him insane.

In utter frustration, he throws away the blank music sheet, the piles of paper landing on the other side of the room where an old guitar, scratched and decorated with stickers, leaned by the bedpost. Baekhyun has often wondered why Chanyeol treated his guitar like a scrapbook, tainted and badly kept, he would never dream of doing the same thing to his precious instrument. But curiosity got the better of him. He had never played the guitar before, but it was a string instrument, which Baekhyun thought would be easier for him to try. With that being said, he reached out for object, feeling the lightweight against his hands, the strings of Chanyeol’s guitar playing a few painful notes as he tries to adjust his fingers on it, awkwardly holding onto the instrument, letting it rest on his lap, his eyes looking at the six strings, trying to figure out how to hold onto a note from this awkward angle.

‘You press your fingers lightly’, a voice from behind him calls out, shocking him to almost drop the instrument, turning his head to find Chanyeol, smiling down at him as he opens the door, closing it behind and taking off his jacket. He must’ve come back from his evening lecture.

‘Sorry…’, Baekhyun hangs his head low, trying to put back the guitar in its rightful place once the owner enters the room, his cheeks glinted a hint of rose pink, ‘I didn’t mean to touch it… I was just…’

‘Don’t worry about it’, Chanyeol waves his hand in dismissal, swinging his backpack onto his bed, making his way to his roommate, crossing his leg as he sits down, facing Baekhyun, ‘Do you want me to help you play?’, he offers, reaching his hand out and holding on Baekhyun’s.

‘No, it’s fine. I was just…’, Baekhyun didn’t have the time to finish his sentence, Chanyeol pressing his fingers to hold onto each string, dictating his hands to configure a note.

‘Now strum’, he whispers, his soft-spoken voice left Baekhyun spellbound, his other hand strumming the strings in account of Chanyeol’s command, which sang a light breeze note.

‘D Major’, he points out once he recognised the note, his fingers slightly awkward as he strums it again, not quite the perfect sound which usually emits whenever Chanyeol plays his guitar.

‘That’s right’, Chanyeol chuckles, moving his right fingers again, readjusting it, sliding it across the neck of the guitar, closer to the nut, his middle finger placed at the top, ‘Now, strum again’, this time, Baekhyun added a bit of confidence, strumming the strings of the guitar a little harder than last time, emitting a much smoother sound than last, a small smile plastered on his face as Chanyeol nodded in approval.

‘G Major’, Baekhyun points out again, strumming it once more, proud of himself that he’d recognised the chord almost straight away.

‘You’re a natural’

‘Of course, I am’

‘Don’t get too cocky’, Chanyeol responds, reaching his arms out, Baekhyun giving back the guitar to its rightful owner, watching the way Chanyeol holds it comfortably, more elegant than the way Baekhyun held it. His eyes gaze on the way Chanyeol’s fingers slide down the neck of the guitar, holding onto the frets and easily strumming random chord progressions which put Baekhyun’s simple strums to shame, a change from B# major to C# minor, quick and smooth.

‘Why don’t you stop being cocky too’ Baekhyun pouts, watching Chanyeol laughing as he continues to play with his guitar, this time plucking the strings, changing into an arpeggio, each string decorating the harmony, ‘Didn’t I tell you not to show off?’, Baekhyun voices out again, moving his gayageum closer to him, blocking Chanyeol with it.

Chanyeol continues to ignore him, going back to strumming his guitar with a simple chord progression, repeated numerous times, Baekhyun recognising it but not knowing what Chanyeol’s was playing quite yet until his voice is added into the mix.

_When you were here before_

_Couldn’t look you in the eye_

_You’re just like an angel_

_Your skin makes me cry_

_You float like a feather_

_In a beautiful world_

_I wish I was special_

_You’re so fucking special_

Baekhyun didn’t know what came over him, but his hands gliding on the strings of his gayageum, following the notes Chanyeol had repeated strum, the edging over to his gayageum, flicking his index fingers, the vibrato of his strings correlating to Chanyeol’s voice, singing the lyrics, his eyes widening once he noticed Baekhyun joining in, hearing him play the gayageum, a smile retreating back to his lips as he continues to watch him.

_But I’m a creep_

_I’m a weirdo_

_What the hell am I doing here_

_I don’t belong here_

_I don’t belong here._

Chanyeol stops singing, he stops playing the guitar and allows Baekhyun to finish off, ending in an F minor, their music ending and welcoming a peaceful silence between them.

_Make something new in the old._

Baekhyun is reminded of what his professor told the lecture hall, his eyes reverting to look at Chanyeol, his hands still holding his guitar close, not playing but, but simply holding onto it, the same way Baekhyun’s fingers hovered just above the strings of his gayageum.

‘Hey’, Baekhyun breaks the silence which had started to engulf them both, ‘Do you, maybe wanna be my partner for the assignment?’

‘You mean the one for all music majors?’

‘Yeah’

‘Huh… I didn’t think a traditional would want to pair up with a contemporary’, Chanyeol out with a slight surprise in his tone.

‘Yeah… But I’m with no one right now… So?’, Baekhyun scratches the back of his neck nervously, waiting for Chanyeol to respond – but he shouldn’t have bothered – since Chanyeol had nodded his head at the aspect of being partnered up with Baekhyun.

‘Sure. Why not? It’ll give me more excuse to go to the practice room’

♥ ♥

It was a wonder for Baekhyun to actually get a job, but for some odd reason, the heavens must have answered his prayers since the got a call back from a restaurant just outside the mall, and now here he was, being a waiter in one of the poshest restaurants he’d seen.

He had a dress code which he had to adhere to, which was slightly annoying, especially since it was a suit and tie kind of get up, one which takes him ages to put on since it took him two whole hours to learn how to tie a bowtie around his shirt. His training barely lasted two weeks, which makes it even more hard for Baekhyun as he tries to get everyone’s orders correctly, bring it over to them without falling and trying to do it all with a smile on his face and what his manager has called with ‘elegance’.

Baekhyun would rather work in McDonald's instead.

‘What’s up waiter?’, Kyungsoo shouts the moment Baekhyun walks out of the restaurant, his shift over and his arms aching since he had to carry heavy ceramic plates on a silver platter. That’s how fancy the restaurant is.

‘Urgh’, Baekhyun whines the moment he walks closer to his best friend, leaning his head on Kyungsoo’s chest, ‘Please tell me you have something I can eat’, his voice is high pitched and slightly tired, Kyungsoo chuckling at him as he witnesses Baekhyun working for the first time in his life.

‘I told you to just crash at my place for dinner’, Kyungsoo jokes, unzipping his bag and pulling out a breakfast bar he had laying around in his kitchen, Baekhyun not complaining and quickly grabbing the wrapped bar.

‘Don’t tempt me to quit’, Baekhyun glares at Kyungsoo, taking a big bite, ‘I just started working a week ago’, he says with his mouth full, walking alongside Kyungsoo who had offered to pick him up from work since his shifts on Fridays tend to end quite late.

‘How’s the assignment with Chanyeol by the way?’, Kyungsoo asks, his curiosity burning once he found out Baekhyun took the first step in asking Chanyeol to be his partner. Baekhyun had made the excuse of partnering up with Chanyeol since he was desperate, but Kyungsoo thought otherwise and always asks Baekhyun about the curly haired boy with the scratched guitar.

‘He was a little stress from his other assignment so we didn’t get a lot of work done yesterday’, Baekhyun points out with a little glint of worry in his eyes, reminding himself of the hours spent inside the practice room, witnessing Chanyeol being serious for the first time, stressing over the sing he’s supposed to present to his music professor in less than two weeks.

‘Aww, how cute. You’re worried about your boyfriend’, Kyungsoo coos, earning himself a slap on the back and a kick on the leg from Baekhyun.

‘Not my boyfriend’, Baekhyun reiterates for the umpteenth time, ‘Chanyeol is my partner-’

‘He sure is’

‘Not like that, you idiot’, Baekhyun is close to just killing Kyungsoo, he’s glad that he’s too tired to strangle him, ‘I’m just saying. You wanted to know how Chanyeol and I are holding up an I’ve told you. Now shut up’

Kyungsoo just continues to laugh, calling it a day since he knew how tired Baekhyun must be, but he knew he had struck something once he sees Baekhyun looking down at his phone, probably waiting for a text message from a certain curly haired sleepy boy.

♥ ♥

‘Hey, sorry I’m late’, Chanyeol bursts through the doors of the practice room Baekhyun had hired for the afternoon, waiting patiently for his partner to show up, playing a few variations on his gayageum which rested on the floor since Baekhyun worked best sitting on the floor.

‘Where have you been?’, Baekhyun asks, looking down at his watch and seeing that Chanyeol was almost ten minutes late.

‘Sorry, I had to buy a meal’, Chanyeol leans on the door, breathless, his guitar case hanging from his shoulders, his other hand holding a plaster bag with the KFC colonel printed on.

‘You bought yourself KFC? Why? Was it that worth it to run for?’, Baekhyun points out, a little bit agitated that Chanyeol had prioritised running to KFC without texting Baekhyun that he was hungry. He could’ve gotten a snack from their dorm if Chanyeol was that hungry.

‘I didn’t see you eating lunch at the communal kitchen’, Chanyeol suddenly interrupts his trails of thoughts, placing the bag of food in front of Baekhyun.

‘Excuse me?’

‘I heard from your friend, Kyungsoo, that you came to the practice room without eating so I quickly whipped out to buy you food, of course, I bought some for myself too’, Chanyeol points out whilst he grabs a seat, opening his guitar case. Baekhyun didn’t move, his eyes glued to the colonel on the plastic bag smiling at him.

‘You bought that for me?’, Baekhyun asks, not really sure why he needed to ask again since he heard every word from Chanyeol, but he was surprised. Why did Chanyeol bother?

‘We’re not going to practice on an empty stomach’, Chanyeol chuckles, ‘Go on, why don’t you start eating now. I need to tune my guitar anyway’, Chanyeol urges for Baekhyun to reach out for the family bucket he brought along with fries and a can of coke.

‘You’re so extra’, is all Baekhyun can say to hide his shocked expression, reaching out to bring the plastic bag towards him, opening it up and pulling out a chicken wing, looking around at the bottom to see if he can find a ketchup packet, shaking his head slightly so that his hair can fall to the front of his face, so it’ll be easier to hide his rose tinted cheeks.

Chanyeol lets Baekhyun eat for a while, trying not to look obvious as he tries to sneak a peak of Baekhyun chewing on the chicken, his lips automatically pouting out as he takes another bite. Whenever Baekhyun looks up to where he’s sitting, he shifts his eyes back down to his guitar, slightly nervous at the fact that he nearly got caught, but his gaze would always turn back to Baekhyun once the coast is clear, staring at the way his hair flowed perfectly compared to his pathetic curly hair.

‘So, have you got any ideas yet?’, Baekhyun suddenly asks with his mouth full, slightly coughing since his mouth was full whilst he spoke. Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile at the way Baekhyun opened the can of coke, failing once since his fingers were oily, taking a sip to calm down his coughing.

‘Yeah, I do actually’, Chanyeol gleams, leaning down and grabbing his backpack where his notebook was, the cover and pages replicating his guitar, torn and covered in stickers and messy handwriting which Chanyeol couldn’t read – and it was his handwriting.

‘Oh, really? Well, let’s hear it then’, Baekhyun smiles excitedly, turning as he adjusts himself to view Chanyeol, observing how the boy puts down his guitar and starts to stand.

‘Where are you going?’, he asks once Chanyeol walks over behind him, forcing him to turn again, seeing his tall roommate sitting down on the big piano placed at the back of the practice room.

‘I thought it’ll be too overwhelming to have two string instruments in one piece and since we’re just a pair, it’ll sound dry without another instrument’s impact’, Chanyeol explains, opening his notebook and leaning it on the mantle, a few notes and scraps of compositions already written down in between lectures and bus rides home from work.

Baekhyun almost forgot that Chanyeol played the piano, he didn’t say anything, waiting for Chanyeol to play what he had, the boy looking over his notes before his fingers begin to hover at the black and white keys.

The subtly was perfect, the soft expression of a major seventh followed by a minor fourth, the chord progression flowing into a reminiscent feeling, a tone of sadness hinted along with it, his fingers flowing around the keys, hitting them softly, an action like picking up an old photobook you find placed at the back of your shelf.

It was short. Too short for Baekhyun as he hears Chanyeol end his peace in a slow plagal cadence, his fingers flowing like a river at the keys one last time.

‘Sorry, but that’s all I came up with for now…’, Chanyeol’s shy expression makes its way to his face, his hands scratching his hair as he waits for Baekhyun’s critiques but being welcomed with nothing but silence, the chicken still in Baekhyun’s hands but abandoned, ‘Sorry if it’s not that good yet’

‘Not good yet? That’s perfect!’, Baekhyun gleams, standing up and walking over to where Chanyeol is, ‘This is perfect’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah. You used mostly minor chords, right?’, Baekhyun points out, standing behind Chanyeol and leaning closer in, eyes trying to take a closer look at Chanyeol’s notebook, ‘Everyone’s probably going to use the major chords to represent rebirth and innocence’, Baekhyun points out, his chin hovering right above Chanyeol’s shoulder, his breathe so close to his skin whilst he speaks that Chanyeol was taken back, his concentration stirred to how close Baekhyun’s face is next to his, ‘We can focus on sentiment instead. Sort of like a spring cleaning of memories. I think that could totally work’, Baekhyun’s eyes sparkled at the sudden flow of ideas, his hands reaching out to turn the page of Chanyeol’s notes, not knowing that a certain giant it so close to death if he leans closer.

♥ ♥

Chanyeol sits at the front stage of the empty bar during closing hours, still seated in front of the piano despite finishing his performance almost an hour ago. It’s been a few days and he can still feel Baekhyun’s breath against his cheeks, warm and ticklish.

‘Are you going to get off and help me with the table?’, Minseok whines, setting up the chairs upside down on the table, his head twisting to see that his tall best friend still hasn’t made a move yet, ‘If you’re going to be like that, I’ll call your parents…’, Minseok threatens, yet his words did not affect Chanyeol at the slightest, ‘God, you are something’, he mutters to himself, giving up and cleaning the bar without Chanyeol, wiping the tables and setting up the chairs, a broom leaning next to him as he mops up the place too.

Chanyeol places his fingers back on the keys, a simple tune playing, a slow melodious harmony, inviting him to sing along.

_A look, a gesture, any expression_

_Is useless, none of them work_

_I don’t think you have any instinct_

_One day I started to like you, you idiot_

_How can you not know how I feel?_

_How much longer are you going to be obtuse?_

_Treat me like a friend_

_That isn’t what I want_

Chanyeol is brought back to the time when he walked back into their dorm, Baekhyun changing his bed sheets and smiling up once he saw Chanyeol walking in. He skipped over to him, Chanyeol remembered the way his hair bounced because of it, patting his hair like a puppy as he welcomes Chanyeol back with a cup of coffee he’d already prepared, just the way he liked it.

‘You finished with your lessons?’, he asked, chirping once Chanyeol nodded, his hair also bounced with his movement, Baekhyun chuckled excitedly as he walks over to Chanyeol’s side of the room, he opened one of Chanyeol’s drawers and pulled out a straightener Chanyeol’s sister bought for him for his graduation.

‘I’ve noticed your friend Minseok always makes fun out of your hair’, Baekhyun commented, bending down on the floor and trying to plug the straightener, ‘And I’ve never really seen you with straight hair before, so…’, Baekhyun placed the device on their bedside, turning back around and forcing Chanyeol to sit on his bed, ‘I wanna see how it looks on you’

‘I…’, Chanyeol is left in a stuttering mess when Baekhyun stands close to him, his hands combing his mess of a hair, a comb, on one hand, trying to undo the knots, ‘I… It’s fine, honestly, I don’t…’

‘Shhh, just wait for the straighteners to heat up and I’ll do it for you’, Baekhyun calls out, interrupting Chanyeol, opening another set of drawers to find a small heat protection spray inside, ‘So, by the looks of things, you do straighten your hair’, Baekhyun points out, waving the product in front of the giant, ‘Why don’t you do it nowadays?’

‘Oh… You know… Work and classes… I really can’t find the time for it’, wrong. God, Chanyeol felt embarrassed having to use the generic excuse of work to bury the fact that he’d rather walk with Baekhyun to lectures instead, even if most days they don’t even share the same lecture hall but the one on Monday, but he still wants to walk with Baekhyun in the morning.

‘Fair enough’, Baekhyun replies, spraying the heat protection all over Chanyeol’s hair, making sure he got the insides as well, twisting Chanyeol’s head in adjustment.

It seems like this is getting worse for Chanyeol the moment Baekhyun actually starts straightening his hair, his fingers so close to him, his face bending down so he can get a closer look at the part he straightens, his actions of sticking his tongue out in concentration making Chanyeol blush.

For a moment, he thought of surrendering to Minseok’s teasing and maybe ask Baekhyun out on a date. He’s already made a scenario in his head where he wraps his hands around Baekhyun’s waist, closing the gap between them and –

‘See!’, Baekhyun gleams, already half finished with his hair, ‘This looks so much better!’, he smiles at his own work, before going back and finishing the other half, ‘Now your boyfriend or girlfriend will be happier that you don’t look like a homeless man’

‘I don’t… Have a boyfriend…’, Chanyeol whispers, going back to his shy mess which contradicted his overconfidence self in his daydreams.

‘Oh, well don’t worry. I’ll be your wingman. We’ll get you a boyfriend soon enough’, Baekhyun pats his back reassuringly, looking around to see if he’d missed any spot.

Well… That hit Chanyeol.

_Sending you a signal_

_Sending you a signal_

_Jjirit, jjirit, jjirit, jjirit_

_I want you, I want you_

_Why is there no reaction?_

_Whenever we meet, I pour all my heart and…_

_jjirit, jjirit_

_I’m waiting, you can see it all_

_Why can’t you know?_

♥ ♥

Baekhyun walks along the college lane on his way towards his dorm building in the middle of the night, yawning and eyes barely opened since he left his work late after clearing the restaurant first. He hated working late shifts, but his first paycheck must be working since he was working overtime – which is a miracle for a student, but Baekhyun really needed a new tuner. The midnight sky was silver and full, the clouds clear and the full moon blaring its moonlight on Baekhyun, the winds slightly chilling, his arms forming goosebumps.

‘Byun Baekhyun’, someone shouts from ahead of him, a tall, scary silhouette coming closer to him, hid instincts forcing him to take a step back but breathing a sigh of relief once he sees Chanyeol in his pyjama pants and sweatshirt walking towards him, his Rilakkuma teddy which the giant had unofficially stolen from him, snuggled in between his arms as he crosses them across his chest, ‘Where have you been, I’ve been worried sick? Why haven’t you answered your phone?’

‘Sorry, it was on silent’, Baekhyun informs his tall roommate, giggling when he sees the boy pouting in front of him like a child, making him want to tiptoe and ruffle his messy curly hair, ‘I had a late shift’, Baekhyun explains, walking beside Chanyeol as they make their way back to their dorm room together, ‘Where you looking for me?’

‘No, I was having a midnight stroll’, Chanyeol points out sarcastically, hugging the Rilakkuma closer, ‘Of course, I was looking for you!’

‘Alright, I’m sorry’, Baekhyun was now fully laughing, ‘I’ll try and pick up my phone next time’, Baekhyun.

‘You better’, Chanyeol whines, turning a corner, near where the common room is, the lights still brightly lit as some students chose to stay up the night to play billiards, the glass walls showing them snuggling inside with blankets and cups of coffee, ‘Wanna go to the park first?’, Chanyeol suggests, gleaming as they walk past the common room to find a small park with a slide and a few swing sets resting in the middle of the student park.

‘I still don’t understand why the campus has that’, Baekhyun points out, having no choice but to follow Chanyeol who had started sprinting his way to where the wings are, holding onto the Rilakumma’s hands as he sits down, swinging lightly already by the time Baekhyun had arrived, calmly sitting on the other swing, feeling the cold metal chains on his hands, ‘You’re such a kid’, he laughs, Chanyeol’s swinging turning violently despite the fact that Baekhyun’s swinging is still slow and calm.

‘It’s no fun when you’re not swinging it hard’, Chanyeol comments, leaning forward, then back, swinging faster.

‘That’s dangerous. Especially with your long legs’, Baekhyun comments, but he couldn’t help but escape a laugh when he sees Chanyeol, busy trying to swing higher, he drops Baekhyun’s Rilakkuma.

‘C’mon!’, the giant baby challenges, ‘Let’s see who can swing the highest!’, he shouts, the wind swooshing past his cheeks, their loud laughter and Chanyeol’s screams echoing across the empty park.

‘Chanyeol, we’re not kids’, Baekhyun tries to get Chanyeol, but the boy wasn’t having it, continuing to swing, using all his body force to try and go higher.

‘C’mon, you wussy! It’s fun!’

‘Ergh’, Baekhyun whines, rolling his eyes at his childish roommate, but that didn’t stop him leaning his upper body forward being leaning back, creating a motion of harsh swinging, trying to catch up to Chanyeol’s height which had now exceeded past dangerous, ‘Chanyeol! Wait up!’, he screams once he gets into it, the pair of them swinging side by side, getting higher and higher until Baekhyun feels the butterflies in his stomach he usually gets when he rides the rollercoaster, looking up to the full moon right above them, satellites which Baekhyun had replaced as stars in his thoughts, shining right above them.

‘Hey! Baekhyun!’

‘What?!’

‘Jump!’

‘What?! Are you crazy?!’

‘Just trust me!’

‘You fucking wish!’

‘C’mon! Byun Baekhyun!’

Baekhyun turns his gaze, still swinging higher, watching the way Chanyeol laughs, raising his eyebrows to indicate Baekhyun to follow him.

‘You’re crazy!’, he shouts at his roommate, but as always, Chanyeol is unfazed.

‘One!’, he starts to count, making Baekhyun wary of the sudden action, looking in front to see that the swing set is set on soft ground and grass.

‘Two!’, but the doesn’t mean he wants to jump off. What if he lands on his ass and breaks a tailbone? Or what if he breaks his neck? He could die.

‘Three!’, it seems like by the third scream, Baekhyun had lost all kinds of his common sense as he feels his legs swaying in the air at Chanyeol’s command, his arms flailing up as he feels himself being in mid-air for a moment like he was flying. But he was brought back down by gravity, landing on his side and releasing a groan when he feels something else land on him.

‘Chanyeol!’, he screeches, the tall boy pressing down on his, his arms automatically holding onto his waist, ‘You idiot! Get off me!’, but all he got in return was the solid laughter of Park Chanyeol screaming at his ear about how fun that was, his breath so close to his he froze in motion. Suddenly, he feels Chanyeol pressing against him, his hands still on his waist, his laughter slowing down to only fits of giggles, which made it worse since it tickled Baekhyun’s skin, the feeling of Chanyeol’s cheeks on his neck.

It didn’t feel uncomfortable, not anymore when Chanyeol readjusts himself so he doesn’t crush Baekhyun, but he was still on top of him, hugging him closely, Baekhyun looking up at the midnight blue sky, the both of them staying in silent, breathing heavily from the adrenaline, Baekhyun’s hands slowly snaking its way around Chanyeol’s.

♥ ♥

Baekhyun lifts another silver platter of food, walking out of the kitchen and towards the tables, calming classical music playing in the background, the scraping of metal against ceramic mixed with the soft voices of people’s conversations, businessmen and women, housewives, families, sitting in the restaurant dressed to the nines since it’s a Friday night and the restaurant is most alive and sophisticated around this time.

Which meant, Baekhyun’s workload was a bitch, running into the kitchen to fetch the next order, walking around with champagne and red wine as he pours it on other’s drinks, bowing, smiling, greeting, bowing, smiling, taking orders, bowing, smiling, placing orders. It was a distress that his shift is still not over.

‘Baekhyun, table 17!’, the chef calls out from the kitchen, dinging the bell in command, the young student treading his aching feet, the smile on his face looking more forced as the night continues to send lovers inside their restaurant.

‘Where’s Jinyoung? I’ve been running around for an hour’, Baekhyun whines, placing the half-empty bottle of red wine on the kitchen counter, picking up the huge silver platter carrying a lobster, heavier than Baekhyun’s school bags.

‘He’s just taken table 17’s order’, the other waitress informs, picking up the bottle of red wine and picking up Baekhyun’s job, ‘He went to the locker room after that’, she rolls her eyes, walking pass Baekhyun who had no time to complain about Jinyoung’s lazy ass.

‘I’m going to kill him’, Baekhyun mutters to himself, going back to the tables and looking for table 17, putting on his fake smile which had started to ache, trying not to trip over whilst he carried the heavy food with him. Who would order a whole lobster? He better hopes it was a family ordering this, otherwise, he has a lot of questions for them, ‘Table 17’, he calls out, smiling down at the table, not bothering to look at the customer as he attempts to place the plates of food without anything tipping over, his mission to successfully slide the plate onto the table being his only focus.

So much so, that he didn’t notice Chanyeol staring blankly at him with wide eyes and a suit which puts Baekhyun’s uniform tuxedo to shame.

‘Byun Baekhyun?’, he hears the familiar deep voice of his roommate. He had never turned his head faster than before, his eyes finally gazing on Chanyeol, his hair not only straight but gelled and slick back, his ears popping out.

‘Chanyeol?’, Baekhyun smiles, not really aware of the situation they’re in, ‘What are you doing here? I didn’t know you would be coming-’, his happy surprise was cut short when he turns to the other person accompanying his roommate, another man in a perfectly fitted suit, his elegance matching Chanyeol’s sudden one – a feature he didn’t think the tall giant had, ‘Oh… Is this a… Date?’, he whispers, feeling the awkward tension silently seeping in between the three as he didn’t get a response, but the awkward shift from the other male made it clear that it was.

‘Baekhyun, this is-’

‘Right… I’m so sorry about my sudden interruption’, he bows in apology to the both of them, ‘My apologies’, he says once more before getting up, the empty silver platter by his side, his steps quicker than his usual pace, almost running back into the kitchen where he can hide for the rest of his shift in the locker room with Jinyoung.

♥ ♥

Chanyeol waits inside the practice room, sitting patiently by the piano, looking down at his watch to check that time. Baekhyun is fifteen minutes late. Chanyeol felt agitated, somewhat uncomfortable at the fact that Baekhyun didn’t text him that he was going to be late, making his mood even worse since he didn’t manage to wake up early to walk with Baekhyun in the morning. The moment he lifted his eyes in the morning, the bed beside him was already folded and empty.

He didn’t want to say anything, not when they have an assignment due in, but he didn’t like the new feeling wavering between them, this unspoken silence which had torn their conversation, leaving it an awkward mess.

Was it because of his date last Friday?

It couldn’t be. Why would Baekhyun feel awkward over something trivial? Baekhyun didn’t like him that way, he knows that more than anyone, so what could it possibly be?

His trail of thoughts is ended with the small buzz of his phone, his hands unlocking the phone to see a text message from the boy himself.

_Sorry, but can we cancel practice today? Something came up._

Chanyeol heaves out a sigh, quickly texting an agreeing response, throwing his phone on the mantle of the piano.

_That’s right. It’s probably something personal._

He thought to himself, imagining what Baekhyun must be struggling with that his usual bubbly personality wasn’t shining as usual. This made Chanyeol determine to get the smile back on Baekhyun’s face, standing up and grabbing his things, backpack swinging on his shoulder as he races out.

♥ ♥

Baekhyun on the other hand, was inside Kyungsoo’s dorm, laying on his best friend’s bed, looking up at the ceiling, daydreaming of spring.

‘You’ve gotten into another slump?’, Kyungsoo asks, walking back inside his room with two cups of tea, placing one right beside his bedside table for Baekhyun, ‘I thought you and Chanyeol was making progress’

‘Yeah, we have’, Baekhyun points out, his voice monotone, making Kyungsoo raise his eyebrow, ‘We’re actually halfway finished. We just need to fix a few things and we’ll be good to go…’

‘So, why does it look like you’ve just seen a puppy die?’, Kyungsoo points out, leaning on his desk as he watches his best friend continue to stare up at the ceiling. Baekhyun didn’t reply to Kyungsoo’s question just yet, his eyes blinking rapidly, trying to distract himself from his friend’s intimidating glare which focused on him.

‘Chanyeol went on a date the other day’, Baekhyun finally speaks, the moment he does, Kyungsoo nods, knowing fully well exactly why Baekhyun’s been acting up.

‘You’re jealous that he went on a date’, Kyungsoo didn’t ask, it was a statement, a statement which Baekhyun tries to deny, finally getting up and crossing his legs.

‘I am not’, Baekhyun’s first attempt in denial didn’t past for Kyungsoo who puts his mug down on his desk, folding his arms across his chest, ‘I really am not!’, he tries again, this time, raising his voice for impact, but it only made him look desperate, ‘I was just taken back’

‘How comes?’, Kyungsoo asks, his brows raised. He didn’t know whether to find it funny or infuriating for Baekhyun to admit his crush on his roommate.

‘I don’t know… The other day, we were talking about me being a wingman for him since he admitted that he didn’t have a relationship… I didn’t think he’d actually… You know… Actually, try and-’

‘Find someone to date?’, Kyungsoo finishes Baekhyun’s sentence, ‘Why would he not? We’re in college and he is attractive’, Kyungsoo points out, which didn’t sit well with Baekhyun.

‘I know that’

‘Do you though?’, Kyungsoo picks up his cup of tea, taking a sip and watching his friend slowly collapse in front of him, ‘Because it doesn’t look like you want him to date’

‘Not now. We need to finish our assignment, plus he has his own assignment due in a week and-’

_Oh, what a waste of time_

Kyungsoo thought, unsure why his friend didn’t want to admit his feelings for the tall giant. It wasn’t hard to admit since Chanyeol was a nice person as far as Kyungsoo can tell, and he wasn’t so out of Baekhyun’s league that it’s impossible for the guy to reject him.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol were in each other’s grasps, all they need to do is reach their hands out.

♥ ♥

Baekhyun had decided to use one of his three chances and stay over at Kyungsoo’s place for the night, having to sleep through Kyungsoo kicking him whenever he moved to close, which did not relax him at all, waking up even more tired with his neck aching at sleeping at such an awkward position.

‘You only have two nights left’, Kyungsoo reminds Baekhyun as he walks back into his room with a plateful of breakfast, fried eggs and bacon along with a glass of milk since Kyungsoo had to emphasise who the baby one out of the both of them were.

‘You ganna go back to your dorm now?’, Kyungsoo asks, sitting at the edge of his bed, watching Baekhyun devour his breakfast, his cheeks puffing out like a hamster, eyes looking up like a lost puppy. ‘I think so’, he responds with his mouthful, a few chewed foods flying out of his mouth and landing on the bed which annoyed the living shit out of Kyungsoo, reminding himself that he needs to change his sheets. ‘Well, hurry the fuck up and get out of my room’, Kyungsoo threatens through gritted teeth as soon as he sees Baekhyun spilling his milk on his bedsheet, angering him even more.

The walk down the stairs and on his way to his dorm made Baekhyun think – which is not something he needed, but he ended up concluding that there was something wrong with him. First off, he had to admit about how overdramatic he’d become over finding out that Chanyeol went out on a date without telling him and second of all, he was an idiot for even feeling the least bit agitated on it. Baekhyun didn’t why he’d been so caught up on it, telling himself off as he opens the doors to his dorm, looking down and instantly finding the problem sleeping on the floor with a KFC family bucket and what seemed to be a cold cup of coffee on the floor with him, his head leaning on his hands, still sleeping.

‘Chanyeol?’, he calls out once he closes the door, stepping closer to observe what exactly had Chanyeol done to their room with the number of unopened snacks, potato chips, chocolate bars. He had also Chanyeol’s guitar resting on the floor next to the cradled giant, ‘Chanyeol?’, he calls out again, this time, he sees the latter stirring, his once straight hair now tangled, his eyes fluttering open, standing up as soon as he sees Baekhyun standing in front of him.

‘Baekhyun!’, he shouts, though his voice was hoarse and cracked due to being just awoken, ‘Where have you been? You left your phone here so I couldn’t reach you’, Chanyeol asks, and it seems like his sudden movements got a late effect since it was only now that he started to feel his back and legs aching from sleeping on the hard-carpeted floor, his cheeks dented with carpet rash.

‘I stayed the night over at Kyungsoo’s’, Baekhyun quickly explains to him, placing his backpack by the end of his bed, ‘What’s all this about?’, he asks, pointing at what seems to be a food party on their floor.

‘Oh. Well… I thought… Maybe you cancelled practice yesterday because something personal came up’, Chanyeol ruffles the back of his head, looking down at the floor, ‘I thought maybe I could’ve cheered you up…’

‘Oh’, Baekhyun looks away, not really wanting to make eye contact with Chanyeol, a slight feeling of guilt building up once he realises that Chanyeol probably spent so much money on him last night.

‘It’s okay… We can always reheat the chicken and have a big breakfast’, Chanyeol smiles back at Baekhyun, picking up the food, but Baekhyun stops him.

‘No, it’s fine. I’ve already had breakfast in Kyungsoo’s’, Baekhyun calls out, making Chanyeol stop what he’s doing.

‘Oh… Right… That’s great. At least you ate something, right?’, Chanyeol smiles, ‘We can always eat this later today’

‘Yeah, yeah, later’, Baekhyun points out, the awkward silence between them coming back in, making Chanyeol wish he can approach Baekhyun and ask what’s going on.

♥ ♥

‘Hey, are you Kyungsoo by any chance?’, Kyungsoo lifts his lead from his computer, looking up to see someone familiar standing in front of him. He was sure he’d been acquainted or at least seen this person before, so he stopped typing, and smiled at him.

‘Yeah’, he replies, ‘And you are?’

‘Minseok. Chanyeol’s friend’, Minseok reaches his hand out like a gentleman, Kyungsoo forcing to shake hands with the boy in the middle of the library, their voices in a whisper as Minseok takes a seat right next to him.

‘Look, I’ve been wondering about something and I thought you’d be the only person to know anything’, he whispers, wary that he might start gaining attention from people who are actually trying to study.

‘What is it’

‘It’s about your friend’, Minseok points out, ‘Baekhyun’, this caught Kyungsoo’s attention, his work abandoned and attention focused on Minseok.

‘What about him?’

‘What’s his deal man?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean, he’s been avoiding Chanyeol whenever he tries to approach him. This one time we were walking around the mall and we passed Baekhyun. Chanyeol barely said hi and he was practically running away from us. Does Chanyeol stink? Maybe I’ve been hanging out too much with him that I don’t notice anymore…’, Kyungsoo sighs in frustration, rolling his eyes at the account of his best friend is such a wuss. He knew that Baekhyun had been in huge denial over Chanyeol but he didn’t expect it to come to this.

‘It’s probably because of that stupid date Chanyeol had a couple of weeks ago at the restaurant he works at. Ever since he found out that Chanyeol may not be solely interested in him, he flipped out and totally became a Kardashian about it’

‘Are you serious?’, Minseok raises his voice, which obviously caused the librarian to glare at the pair, giving them a warning look, ‘Ergh, sorry about that…’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well… Since Chanyeol wasn’t going to be making a move on Baekhyun any time soon, I sort of… Set him up with someone from my class, you know, just so he can take his mind off things’, Minseok explain, yet Kyungsoo can’t even be mad at him, not when he was only trying to fix up his friend the same way he would’ve done with Baekhyun.

‘Does Chanyeol usually hold off on asking someone out?’, Kyungsoo asks curiously, knowing fully well that this wasn’t the first time Baekhyun had done this before, in fact, he can recall countless of times where Baekhyun was put in a similar position during school, always indirectly rejecting someone who tried to ask him out.

‘Chanyeol? God no. If he likes you, he’ll make sure they know it’, Minseok snorts, recalling the time his best friend skipped a whole day of school just so he can confess to a boy in his maths class.

‘Then what the hell is he doing with Baekhyun?’, Kyungsoo whispers in frustration, feeling ten years’ worth of stress being added to him – and this wasn’t even his problem.

‘Beats me, seriously, I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately’, Minseok shakes his head in frustration, ‘Why is your friend like that? If you don’t mind me asking?’

‘Like what?’

‘Like he isn’t aware that Chanyeol has a thing for him’

‘It’s because he genuinely believes Chanyeol doesn’t’

‘Are you serious?’

‘Unfortunately, yes’

♥ ♥

Baekhyun sits on the floor of the practice room at three o’clock in the morning, his fingers back into a state of damage, his nails broken, skin scraped and bloodied, but he continued to play, the high register of his strings echoing across the dark and empty practice room, the noise becoming hollow and adding a haunting mystery to what was supposed to be a cheery tune.

He was butchering the song is what his old high school music teacher would say.

But Baekhyun didn’t want to play the song properly, he just needed a distraction, his fingers racing around the instrument, plucking the strings with as much intensity as he’s been feeling, his eyes closing for a few moments as he feels the overwhelming stress holding onto him.

It was only made worse when he spotted Chanyeol walking by the campus, laughing and talking with the boy he saw him with at the restaurant, his hair straightened – he probably straightened it himself to look nice for the boy – they were holding Starbucks coffee cups and Chanyeol’s guitar case was resting behind his back. It made him stop for a moment, bringing himself closer to the pair, seeing the way Chanyeol usually laugh, his toothy grin on display, his longs legs walking side by side with the stranger.

Baekhyun continues to play an unharmonized tune, odd chord progression which sounded nothing like the soft piece he had always been taught, the harshness pinning him to continue playing even though he can feel the sting on the tips of his fingers. His eyes falling on the small sticker which was pasted by the edge of his gayageum, the edges scratched as he initially tried to get rid of it, but it was resilient and over time, Baekhyun came to like the odd sticker.

♥ ♥

‘And maybe if we put a minor chord here, maybe it’ll work better’, Baekhyun points out, quickly adding in a note in between, his voice monotone and serious compared to the other times he’d practised with Chanyeol, their hours spent looking at the notebook and playing their piece without so much as an actual conversation involved.

Chanyeol, despite feeling slightly deflated over their downgrade, followed Baekhyun’s orders silently, playing the piano when he needs to, stopping when Baekhyun thought of another idea. It seems like their meetups have become so monotone.

‘Hey, so… Are you okay now?’, Chanyeol asks once he sees that Baekhyun had stopped playing on his gayageum, looking down and rereading their piece. Baekhyun looks up in surprise that Chanyeol had finally spoken a word after being so quiet.

‘Yeah, I’m fine’, Baekhyun points out, a bitter tone in his expression which took Chanyeol by surprise at first.

‘Are you sure? I mean, if you wanna talk about it-’

‘No. I don’t want to talk about it’, Baekhyun interrupts him, which confuses Chanyeol even more since Baekhyun was giving him an attitude he’d never received before.

‘Have you got a problem with me or something?’, Chanyeol asks this time he noticed the way Baekhyun shifted his gaze, avoiding eye contact, ‘What the hell did I do?’

‘Nothing’, Baekhyun calls out, ‘Not everything is about you’

‘Then what the hell is going on?’

‘Does it look like it’s your business?’

‘Fine’, Chanyeol calls out, finally having enough of Baekhyun’s cold shoulder, ‘If I didn’t do anything, then I don’t have to sit here and take your bullshit’, Chanyeol walks over and grabs his notebook from Baekhyun, stuffing it in his bag and putting on his jacket.

‘What are you doing? We still have an hour booked for this room’, Baekhyun calls out, but his voice, albeit any other time, did not stop Chanyeol, the giant not even bothering to turn back, opening the door and closing it behind him.

‘Fucking hell’, Baekhyun hisses to himself, pulling his hair in frustration, banging on his gayageum which emitted a rough noise, echoing across the empty practice room, ‘Fucking hell…’ he repeats, but this time, directing it to himself, looking down on his lap and seeing his badly bandaged fingers.

♥ ♥

‘So, he’s mad you?’

‘No, he told me it wasn’t about me’

‘So… He’s not mad at you?’

‘But he was being so bitchy towards me’

‘Is me mad at you or not then?!’

‘That’s the problem Jongin! I don’t know!’, Chanyeol yells out, the pair of them sitting inside Starbucks, Chanyeol leaning his forehead on the table, banging it in frustration. He felt slightly guilty for leaving Baekhyun alone in the practice room, especially since their performance is very near, but it was annoying the shit out of Chanyeol the way the boy had been acting recently.

‘Well, at least the awkward silence between the two of you gave you enough time in the morning to finally straighten your hair in the morning’, Jongin points out, drinking his iced Americano and laughing when Chanyeol looks up only to glare at him.

‘Ha, ha, you’re so very funny’, Chanyeol sarcastically breathes out a hefty laugh, banging his head back onto the table.

‘Gosh, and to think I ever agreed to go on a date with you’, Jongin chuckles, remembering the time Minseok forced them to wear their best clothes since he reserved a table in one of the expensive place in the city, ‘I’m kind of glad it didn’t work out’

‘Me spilling red wine on you was not a turn-off. You were just using that as an excuse’, Chanyeol whines, lifting his head up and leaning his cheeks on his hands, his long sleeves hiding his hands, his fingers poking out from the ends.

‘Well, it’s not like you were so responsive. You kept on staring into the distance, looking for your little prince’, Jongin points out, laughing once he noticed that Chanyeol didn’t say anything, his eyes looking at his untouched latte, ‘Can’t blame you though, he was kind of cute’

‘He was, wasn’t he?’, Chanyeol smiles, ‘Baekhyun in a tux…’, his daydream took the best of him, whisking him away to the time he saw Baekhyun wearing a tux for the first time, the bow tie around his neck looking so sophisticated yet cute.

‘God, you’re so whipped’, Jongin continues to laugh at his blind date which had gone wrong, but at least a friendship ended up being form in Chanyeol rushing inside the mall to buy Jongin a whole new outfit once the red stains seemed embarrassingly evident on his white button down.

‘Hey…’, Jongin shut up, reaching his hand out and shaking Chanyeol back to reality, ‘What if you invite him to your performance?’

‘What performance?’

‘You know, the one for your Techniques of Compositions and Music Analysis’

‘That’s a closed performance in the afternoon. Only music majors are allowed in’

‘And what the hell does Baekhyun do? Philosophy?’, Jongin points out, hitting Chanyeol in the head, just in case he hasn’t fully returned to earth, ‘Just invite him. See if he actually comes’, Jongin suggests, Chanyeol pouting as he rubs the spot on his head which Jongin has smacked, a little doubtful of the plan.

‘I don’t know… I don’t really think he’d…’

‘Isn’t the song about him?’, Jongin points out, interrupting the stuttering mess that was Chanyeol, the giant blushing slightly at the mention that his assignment was actually inspired by a real person. Is this what Taylor Swift feels?

‘Why did I even tell you about that…’, Chanyeol whines, more to himself, but Jongin heard him, laughing at the lovesick puppy right in front of him.

‘God, remind me to never get a boyfriend like you’

‘And why is that? Aren’t I cute?’

‘You’re too soft’

♥ ♥

Baekhyun contemplated whether to take up another night at Kyungsoo’s place, but he thought it would be a waste since Chanyeol probably got over their little hissy fight. Even though it still bugged Baekhyun, he kept on walking to his dorm, looking down on his feet and counting each step, one slower than the other until he’s right in front of his own door.

‘Hey’

Baekhyun quickly turns around, seeing Chanyeol standing behind him, his jacket falling from his shoulder’s, a plain grey shirt on with his tracksuit which Baekhyun had noticed that he had worn numerous times.

‘Hey’, he calls back, awkwardly turning around to face Chanyeol, his feet tapping, hands tremoring for a moment, ‘You… You’ve been out all day?’

‘God no’, Chanyeol chuckles, his smile coming back and relieving Baekhyun. Thank god the tall giant wasn’t as pissed at him, ‘I was actually walking down from Kyungsoo’s place’

‘Huh? Why?’

‘Because I thought you’d be there…’, Chanyeol grins his toothy grin once Baekhyun looks up at him, seeing a glimpse of gold when he noticed his eyes shining. The tall giant wasn’t shy in admitting that he had been looking all around for Baekhyun since the boy had the bad habit of keeping his phone on silent.

‘Oh’

‘Yeah…’, Chanyeol chuckles, stepping closer to Baekhyun, forcing the smaller to take a step back, ‘Aren’t you going in?’, he asks, making Baekhyun blush, the boy reaching his hand out, brushing past Baekhyun and opening the door.

Baekhyun is left slightly breathless at the moment, feeling Chanyeol’s hands grab his arms before reaching out for the doorknob, seeing Chanyeol calm expression flushing him even more so. He stays still for a moment before following Chanyeol inside.

‘Look, I have a performance at 2 tomorrow, so I was wondering… Maybe…’, Chanyeol turns to take off his jacket, hanging it on one of his bedposts, ‘Maybe you wanna see me play?’, he asks, hopeful eyes hiding behind his hair.

Baekhyun awkwardly sits down on his bed, his gayageum pushed underneath his bed, the heavy air between them still evident but is slowly melting whenever Chanyeol smiles back at him like he usually does.

‘Uh… Yeah… Yeah sure’, Baekhyun takes off his jacket, folding it neatly and placing it at the end of his bed, ‘Sorry… By the way’, he whispers, uncomfortable at having to apologise, but after thinking it through, and spending the rest of the day planning his own murder at how guilty he felt when he shouted at Chanyeol, he had no choice but to apologise, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel stupid doing it.

‘Huh?’, Chanyeol didn’t help as he turns himself around, asking Baekhyun to repeat himself even though the latter barely had enough confidence to say it the first time.

‘I said I was sorry…’, Baekhyun says ago, a little bit louder, but still, with an anxious tone, his eyes trying to look up and make contact with Chanyeol but his reflexes quickly reverted his gaze down to his shoes when he didn’t get a reply, ‘I was just… Mad at something… And I’m sorry… For pinning it onto you…’

Baekhyun should be lucky that Chanyeol is his roommate.

The tall giant quickly dismisses their fight as if nothing happened, shrugging his shoulder and moving closer to the centre of their room.

‘It’s getting late, why don’t we quickly finish up the practice that we missed before going to bed?’, Chanyeol leaves Baekhyun’s apology and their tension behind as quick as thunder, reaching out to turn on the coffee machine, ‘C’mon, I’ll make you coffee’

Baekhyun smiles.

‘Milk and two sugars?’, the giant asks as if he doesn’t already know.

‘Yes please’

♥ ♥

Baekhyun misses his first ever seminar. He felt guilty, but it’s not like he hadn’t skipped lessons before, so he quickly races out of the Music and Performing Arts department, his backpack sliding down his shoulder, students brushing past him in groups. Many people also wanted to attend the first performance of the year at the square.

The square was like a Greek theatre, a circular stage embraced with cobbled seats which were made in the late 1800s, one which was planted at the centre of the main campus field. It was used usually for performing arts student, however, the Music department had started to make use of it, especially during the summer. They didn’t like the idea of dozens of students cramped in a small hall waiting to perform their pieces, so they decided a bit of sunshine wouldn’t hurt.

Baekhyun walks towards the crowded area, seeing students who don’t even do music hovering around the area despite it being for Music Majors only, curious at the set up of various instruments placed at the centre stage, wires everywhere, TAs’ and other students in the midst of preparing and checking the sound system.

‘For a first assignment, this seems over the top’, Baekhyun hears people’s whisper, their murmurs being the only thing he can focus in as he sits down right at the back, having no one with him since Kyungsoo is in his lessons. He fiddles with his nails, waiting patiently and would sometimes look down, observing to see if Chanyeol was performing first.

And Lord behold, he is.

Baekhyun spots him straight away. He’s wearing the same jacket he wore yesterday, a cap to cover his curly hair which Baekhyun noticed in the morning since they were both rushing out of their dorm room due to sleeping late after hours of practice last night.

He noticed the way Chanyeol sat down on the seat, plugging his guitar to the wire which connected it to the speakers, his fingers sliding up the frets of his guitar, tuning it perfectly without the need of a tuner.

‘Alright ladies and gentlemen’, a teacher finally walks at the centre, a mic in his hands, his voice blaring across the open theatre, the sun blazing down on them along with the cool spring breeze, ‘I gladly introduce you to the outstanding first performance of our new musicians…’, the teacher continues to introduce the session in the corniest way possible, his voice high pitched and loud, clapping his hands together enthusiastically, making everyone laugh at him, but clap along at the same time, Baekhyun smiling when he sees Chanyeol smiling at the way the teacher spoke – almost Shakespearean with a twist of slang added onto the mixed – in Baekhyun’s opinion. He was sad but glad at the same time that he didn’t have him as a teacher.

‘Alright, well since our first session’s assignment is about writing love songs, prepared to be wooed with flowing music and romantic words as we give it up to our first performer Park Chanyeol’, the teacher bellows, clapping his hands and shouting cheers as he steps away to the side of the stage, leaving Chanyeol to do what he does best.

‘Hello everyone. I’m Park Chanyeol’, a crowd of girls’ swoon at the sound of Chanyeol’s deep voice, the crowd laughing and cheering them on. Baekhyun claps his hands together, also joining in the cheer, his eyes reverting to the way Chanyeol winked at the girls. His stomach twists.

‘I’ll be playing a song about love I guess’, Chanyeol quickly explains, as he was told to do by his teacher who is recording everything for grading purposes, urging him to explain a bit more before he starts his performance, ‘It’s not much of a love story, since it hasn’t started yet. But yearning for someone is still a form of love… Right?’, Chanyeol states, smiling shyly as he gains another swoon and crowd of cheers, looking down on his guitar as he waits for everyone to quieten down before he continues, ‘This song is about falling for someone who doesn’t even realised that you’ve been head over heels for them since the day they met. These are the words I think about when I imagine the day he realises’

Baekhyun patiently waits for Chanyeol to start, anticipating the way his fingers would just start to play magic, the strings on his guitar playing a simple yet melodic tune, soft and sweet, perfect for a summer morning daze.

_The moment I first saw you was like a dream,_

_Because your smile was so pretty, like an angel,_

Chanyeol strums on his guitar, his voice deep yet peaceful, a small smile plastered on his face once he remembered the day where he opened his eyes to find a cute boy staring down at him, his arms wrapped around him protectively. He was so huggable, like a teddy bear.

_What would it be like to have you as my love?_

_I feel so happy just by imagining that_

Suddenly the backing track plays, the small beat of drums joining in Chanyeol’s guitar, wind chimes glistening along with Chanyeol’s deep voice which had grown deeper as he continues to strum his guitar, this time, rapping the next line.

_We share earphone,_

_And I smile when we look at each other under the bright sun,_

_Don’t worry about other people,_

_There’s not enough time to look just at me, I’ll let you know_

Baekhyun’s eyes widen at the sudden familiarity at his words, pinning him down to his seat, his hands clasp together, too frozen to clap along as the song continues, the crowd getting hooked at Chanyeol’s voice.

Chanyeol looks around the crowd, his eyes desperately trying to find someone. A soft looking boy with brown bouncing fluffy hair, his lips always in a pouting position, his words sometimes harsh and whining all the goddamn time. He searches for the boy with the bubbly yet tough gaze, the boy with washed out denim jeans and a thin sweater. He searches for the boy with the Rilakumma bear.

_I imagine you smiling at me, I imagine you holding my hand_

_Cast a spell and hope you become my love,_

_I imagine you sleeping in my arms,_

_I imagine you kissing me, oh, oh_

_What a sweet imagination._

_Building a white house on the green hill,_

_There we are playing on the yellow swings, oh,_

_I serve your morning coffee when you wake up in the morning,_

_I feel so happy just by imagining it_

Baekhyun is by now breathless, his memories flooding in, of midnight rendezvous, endless hours of talking, the odd laughter of Chanyeol’s emitting across the dark room, his habit of always hitting the person next to him when he bursts into hysteria, his eyes scrunching into chubby crescent moon shapes. Chanyeol continues to strum his guitar, the crowd swaying from side to side as the song progresses into a guitar solo, his fingers plucking each string one by one, a harmony of notes, his lips pressed on the mic as he prepared for the chorus.

_I imagine spending every day with you,_

_I imagine myself hugging you, oh, oh_

_What an ecstatic imagination,_

_I imagine us every day, becoming each other’s half,_

_I imagine us becoming like each other, oh, oh_

_Hoping that my dreams will come true,_

_I love you, please be my love,_

_I love you, I’ll confess to you with courage, oh, oh_

_You’re my imagine love._

Chanyeol finishes with the soft strumming of his guitar, the backing track stopping along with him, the crowd clapping their hands together in an instant, the soft yet soulful song strumming everyone’s heartstrings, the crowd of girls at the front standing to their feet and screaming loud, blocking Chanyeol from seeing Baekhyun stand up, his eyes buried in blurs and something damp resting by the ends of his eyes, his hands holding onto his backpack as he quickly exits the theatre.

♥ ♥

‘Don’t feel too down’, Minseok strokes his best friend’s back as he watches Chanyeol disintegrate into a pit of sadness, downing his Ribena in a whisky glass in one go, shocking other costumers who thought he had actual alcohol in one chug. Minseok had heard about Chanyeol’s bust of a confession, feeling slightly infuriated at the fact that Baekhyun didn’t turn up.

‘I looked everywhere, but he wasn’t in the crowd’, Chanyeol whines, his voice muffles as he buries his head on his arms, trying to hide away from the world.

‘Chanyeol, it’s not your fault. Honestly, I think-’, Minseok’s words are cut short once he sees someone walking into the bar, his beanie hiding his brown hair, plaid jacket loosely on him. Minseok sees Baekhyun walking in, stopping in midmotion once he made eye contact with Minseok, relieved but slightly nervous once he finds the latter glaring at him like he was the antichrist.

Minseok abandons Chanyeol to wallow in his own self-pity, storming away from the counter and towards the entrance where Baekhyun still stood, ready to give him a piece of his mind for ditching Chanyeol’s performance without so much as a text.

‘What are you doing here?’, Minseok growls, his eyes threatening to kick him out any minute.

‘I heard… I heard this is where Chanyeol plays…’, Baekhyun nervously stutters, looking down at his hands where he’s holding a folded piece of paper, the edges slightly torn and crimpled.

‘Yeah, and?’, Minseok asks bluntly, no emotions but intimidation, which didn’t help Baekhyun’s case as he cowers underneath the other’s voice.

‘I was hoping… Maybe… To perform something at the ba-’

‘And why would I let you do that? Huh? After what you did today’

‘What did I do today?’, Baekhyun asks innocently, his eyes turning wide in wonder and a little bit of fear as Minseok rests his hands on his hips.

’Chanyeol invited you to see his performance and you didn’t even text him to say you weren’t coming. He was expecting you and-’

’What are you talking about? I did come. He was first to perform’

_What?_

’What?’, Minseok is taken back, looking at Baekhyun blankly, ‘You… Came?’

’Yeah, but I had to leave early, because…’, Baekhyun looks back down on the folded piece of paper, opening it up slightly to see his messy handwriting written all over the page, scribbled and marked down, rewritten over and over again, ‘Do you mind if I use the stage for a moment?’

’Huh?’, Minseok is now on the other side of the conversation, his threatening glare turning into confusion as he turns back to Chanyeol who’s head still rested on the counter, ‘Wait a minute… But Chanyeol said you didn’t go…’

’He probably didn’t see me…’, Baekhyun comments, looking ahead to see what Minseok was gazing at, seeing his tall roommate hunched at the end of the counter, near the small stage, ‘So…’, he brings Minseok’s attention back to him, ‘Can I?’

’Oh shit… Yeah… Yeah, why not?’, Minseok’s scary persona had disappeared, guiding Baekhyun to the front where a small keyboard is placed at the left side. It seems like Minseok’s absence didn’t stop Chanyeol from hitting his head against the counter, completely missing when Baekhyun walks passed him, sitting on the chair in front of the keyboard, the small crowd of businessmen and women and other costumers curiously staring at him as he turns on the electronic instrument, his hands shaking as he attempts to place the crumpled sheet of paper on the mantle.

The crowd automatically goes silent when Minseok turns on the mic, placing it on the stand near Baekhyun, the latter tapping it just to make sure.

‘Hello?’, he speaks to the crowd in a questioning tone, his voice trembling as the crowd begins to give their full attention to the stranger in the stage, Minseok’s Uncle giving him a raising eyebrow to which Minseok just shrugs him off, turning off the background music of old 50s blues so everyone can hear Baekhyun.

‘Hello’, Baekhyun repeats to himself, this time gaining a little bit more confidence once he watched Minseok tapping his best friend on the shoulder, pointing at the stage at which this point, Chanyeol swivels his stall, his eyes falling on Baekhyun’s, feeling his body elate at seeing Chanyeol again, but this time the other way around, this time it was him that needed to say something.

‘Baekhyun?’, Chanyeol whispers, quickly turning back to Minseok, ‘What is he doing here?’, he asks, but he was given nothing more than a shrug, Minseok wiping the counters and observing Baekhyun with just as much curiosity as everyone else in the room.

‘Hi’, Baekhyun says hello for the third time, waving awkwardly, ‘My name is Byun Baekhyun and…’, he feels Chanyeol looking at him again even though he’s not staring at the boy but at the entrance door at the far back, just in case he turns into jelly if they make eye contact again, ‘I’m here to perform a song for your guys… It’s not a very good one, since I’m still very basic on the piano and I only wrote the lyrics today but…’, he uses every muscle in his body and mind to turn his gaze slowly back to Chanyeol, ‘I needed to get something off my chest and I thought, that'll be the best place for it…’

Chanyeol watches as Baekhyun’s hands hovered over the keyboard before he started playing, his fingers pressing lightly to present a melodious sound, an A# major, flowing through the quiet room, Chanyeol surprised at seeing Baekhyun playing something that was not his gayageum, his heart racing at the sound of something sweet and innocence playing straight from Baekhyun’s fingertips.

_Throwing a stone at my originally calm heart, maybe you don’t know_

_Tell me everything you’ve said before is just a prank to fool me, oh_

_I’ve always wanted to say, without feeling awkward_

_Looking back at the past, I regret everything, like a fool,_

_My heart has always been yours_

_But I’m just waiting impatiently, yeah, like a fool._

Chanyeol noticed the way Baekhyun’s eyes closed that way his does when he lets the keys lull him to his own world, Baekhyun’s hands slightly tensed, even from afar, since he wasn’t used to moving his fingers around, but the sound was still exquisite.

_Please tell me how I should say this_

_I wanna, wanna say it_

Suddenly, his eyes opens, turning back to gaze at Chanyeol, sporting a shy smile which was quickly followed by a rose-tinted blush which the stage lights had caught.

_My feeling are becoming obviously clear_

_Gently to you, closer, closer, closer, yeah_

_I have so many things to tell you_

_I’m in love with you…_

Chanyeol stands up from his stool, his conscious not even aware that he had started moving, walking forward to where the stage where, past the tables and past the other customers, his eyes never leaving Baekhyun’s gaze.

_I hesitated because I don’t want to get hurt,_

_Though I try to brace myself and be courageous,_

_I’m just deceiving myself,_

_I’m like a fool,_

_My heart has always been yours_

_I’m unable to express to you_

_Boy, I’m your fool_

Baekhyun ends his piece in a soft perfect cadence, the crowd clapping at his performance but he paid no attention, his eyes never leaving the flickering diamonds which were Chanyeol’s eyes. They didn’t move, didn’t utter a word, not to each other, not to the crowd who was starting to look onwards between the two.

Chanyeol smiles his usual toothy grin.

Baekhyun heaves a sigh of relief.

♥ ♥

‘Chanyeol… Mmphf. Babe… Stop’, Baekhyun whines, feeling Chanyeol’s soft lips kissing his neck in the early morning, the sun making its way inside their room, one bed left unoccupied as the tall giant had once again sneaked into the other’s bed, his arms tightly wrapped around his boyfriend’s waist.

Baekhyun finally stirs awake at the ticklish sensation of Chanyeol’s kisses, travelling from his collarbone to his neck, smiling once he feels Chanyeol’s plump lips kissing his cheeks, making him giggle as he feels Chanyeol’s hands tickling his sides, squirming in laughter once Chanyeol’s lips had found its perfect spot on his, slow and soft.

Both their eyes closed, Baekhyun adjusting himself so that he’s facing Chanyeol, his arms slowing making its way to rest on Chanyeol’s cheeks, laughing into the kiss and squishing Chanyeol’s cheeks together.

‘You’re cute. You know, that right?’, Chanyeol murmurs, nuzzling his nose on Baekhyun’s cheeks.

‘Chanyeol, it’s too early in the morning to be soft’, Baekhyun whines, trying to get up and being pulled back down by Chanyeol’s strong hands, his hair curly and frizzy, but Baekhyun didn’t mind it at all, feeling it tickle against his cheeks.

‘Let’s just stay here for a few more minutes’, Chanyeol whispers, going back to kissing every part of Baekhyun his lips can find.

‘Chanyeol, we have a performance to get to and we’re the first pair set to perform’, Baekhyun, albeit not wanting to, pushes Chanyeol lightly away so he can get up from the bed, seeing the time on the small clock which rested on his bedside.

‘Humpfh’, Chanyeol whimpers, hugging the small Rilakkuma instead, his puppy eyes looking up at Baekhyun and begging for him to come back to bed, ‘You’re no fun’, his lower lips pouted, Baekhyun ignoring him but laughing at his boyfriend’s cute expression despite having such a groggy voice in the morning.

‘Chanyeol, come on, it’s time to get up’, Baekhyun calls out since Chanyeol showed no signs of moving, ‘I’ll make you coffee’, Baekhyun offers, turning on his coffee machine which had a small sticker of an anime girl pasted at the side where the buttons curtsy of Chanyeol.

‘With a sprinkle of sugar’, Chanyeol voices out his preference, as if the latter didn’t already know that.

‘Yes, with a sprinkle of sugar’, Baekhyun repeats, smiling down at his sleepy boyfriend, his eyes droopy and face still swollen from sleep, Baekhyun walking over, quickly bending down and giving him another kiss, soft and slow, stroking Chanyeol’s back as he tries to wake him up, his gayageum resting on the floor at the end of his bed along with Chanyeol’s guitar, two matching Rilakkuma stickers pasted on each instrument, both holding half a heart, one belonging to the other, a pair of heartstrings pulling each other in.

the end

Songs used:

♥ ♥ exo - tender love

♥ ♥ Hwang Byungki - Spring Snow

♥ ♥ Radiohead – Creep

♥ ♥ Twice - signal (Chanyeol ver.)

♥ ♥ Hwang Byunki – Peacefully

♥ ♥ CNBlue – Imagine

♥ ♥ Twice - Like a fool


End file.
